Syria: Fallen City Of Homs Waits For Aid As Cameron Predicts 'Day Of Reckoning'

The grim discovery of a man who had been shot in the head with his hands tied behind his back near the Syrian capital Damascus led to a funeral protest at which security forces shot dead five people, activists have claimed.

According to Avaaz, Munir Ramadan was found dead in the town of Duma, just north east of Damascus. Videos posted to YouTube show dozens of people gathered for his funeral, before they are surrounded by security forces near to the Grand Mosque.

Once inside they were fired upon by security forces, Avaaz said, and five people were killed.

Meanwhile in Homs government forces took control after a sudden ground invasion followed more than three weeks of brutal shelling, which killed hundreds of civilians.

Around 4,000 residents in Baba Amr were left behind in fear of a "massacre", said the Syrian National Council.

An activist known as Abu Uday told Avaaz: "We fear that the army and security forces are going to commit a massacre in retaliation for their support for the Free Syrian Army (FSA). This is not a defeat for the revolution, the resilience of the residence of Baba Amr is an achievement belonging to the people of this district."

The Red Cross said a convoy of seven aid trucks was on the way to Homs from Damascus.

But British Prime Minister David Cameron said Assad's move to allow aid would not prevent his eventual "day of reckoning".

Speaking at an EU summit in Brussels, where it is expected that fresh sanctions will be imposed on the regime, Cameron said it was "vitally important" that humanitarian aid reached Homs.

He said: "What we are going to be discussing today though is the situation in Syria which is absolutely appalling and it is vitally important that there is humanitarian access in to Homs and elsewhere so that people can get the help they need.

"But above all, what I think matters, is building the evidence and the picture so we hold this criminal regime to account and make sure that it is held to account for the crimes it is committing against its people and that one day, no matter how long it takes, there will be a day of reckoning for this dreadful regime."

While both still insisted that the Free Syrian Army and other opposition groups bear a heavier responsibility for their part the violence, Russia signalled a shift in direction when leader Vladimir Putin said it was down to the Syrian people to decide their leader.

Putin, who is seeking a return to the presidency in elections this weekend, denied Moscow had any special relationship with Damascus.

Tunisia was the first country to recall its ambassador from Syria and also hosted an international conference to condemn the violence on 24 February.

Its own president, Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali, was forced to leave office and flee the country in January 2011 after the country's own widespread protests at the start of what became known as the Arab Spring.

A man in the videos says the pair, killed last week in a rocket attack on the besieged Baba Amr district of Homs, were interred in a local cemetery because power shortages meant their bodies could not be preserved.